30
CASE F
Retention and Participation Program
Engagement and Enrichment Through the Arts and Sport
Re-engagement Centre
These three separate but inter-related Programs make up a comprehensive suite of
Programs designed to:
· overcome in younger students a reluctance to attend school;
· remedy anti-social behaviour in a small but disruptive minority of students; and
· keep students constructively engaged at school by providing them with
alternative studies tailored to their interests and designed to enhance their
employment prospects.
Each Program is in turn made up of a variety of elements. The Retention and
Participation Program consists of a Come To School Bus run, a morning nutrition
program, a Welcome Room for parents, a student mentor system and a volunteer
reading scheme.
The Engagement and Enrichment Program consists of music and sport initiatives, and
the creation of a reconciliation garden. The Re-engagement Centre is a kind of school-
within-a-school where at-risk students are located in two houses adjacent to the main
campus, with intensive lessons in very small groups, monitoring of their conduct by
community elders, and employment-related opportunities. It is intended to work with
the TAFE to offer practical courses in such fields as mechanical engineering and cattle
mustering. Students are selected into the centre on the basis of their risk profile. It is
not an easy option for students who simply misbehave.
Background
This secondary school with an enrolment of 738 students serves an isolated
community. It draws students from a broad range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds,
most of whom come from blue-collar households. The professional and managerial
families in the town tend to send their children away to school.
Forty per cent of students come from Indigenous families, and another ten per cent
from Muslim families. There are also significant minorities of students from Middle
European backgrounds, and for many students English is a second language.
The cyclical nature of the mining industry, the isolation of the town and the harshness
of the climate combine to create a transient population among both students and
teachers. This has had a debilitating effect on school morale and on the image of the
school. The present Principal has declared that she is committed to the school for a
minimum of five years and this in itself appears to have had a positive impact.
The combination of economic disadvantage, ethnic diversity and transience has led
to troubling levels of student disengagement and, among a small minority, seriously
disruptive behaviour. This in turn discourages even keen students. The three elements
of the project are directed specifically at overcoming these negatives and creating
positive incentives for all students.
The school has attracted considerable financial and in-kind support from local
businesses, and benefits from a substantial investment in local education by a large
multi-national mining company. The school's linkages in these areas are strong.
Summary :
30 CASE F Retention and Participation Program Engagement and Enrichment Through the Arts and Sport Re-engagement Centre These three separate but inter-related Programs make up a comprehensive suite of Programs designed to: · overcome in younger students a reluctance to attend school; The Retention and Participation Program consists of a Come To School Bus run, a morning nutrition program, a Welcome Room for parents, a student mentor system and a volunteer reading scheme.
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